Report I
RESEARCH STUDIES ON EARLY CHILDHOOD
CARE AND EUCATION (ECCE)
Status Report on Implementation and Gaps of ECCE in India
(withspecial focus on Delhi, Odisha and Telangana)
Report prepared for Save the Children
Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, Bangalore
(Date)
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STATUS REPORT ON THEIMPLEMENTATION AND GAPS OF ECCE IN INDIA
Abstract
This section provides a context for the entire set of Research Studies on ECCE, commissioned by Save the
Children, India. It presents a review of existing national and international literature on the significance of
ECCE, the research evidence supporting its impacts, and various types of ECCE models and programmes
from across the globe. Research in the field of Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology and Economics
have shown the benefits of holistic care for children in their crucial and sensitive early years for
cumulative life-long development. In response to such evidence, several countries have begun to adopt
varied models of ECCE programmes, many deriving from dominant Eurocentric approaches towards
child development, a few also incorporating locally relevant and contextualised practices of child-
rearing.
India has notably implemented one of the world’s largest comprehensive ECCE programmes fairly early
on, in the 1970s - the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). However, health, nutrition and
education- related indicators of child development for 0-6 year olds, though having improved over the
years, remain far from satisfactory. Despite the centrally sponsored ICDS scheme having been
universalised, around half of India’s under-six population does not participate in any form of pre-primary
education. The lack of a regulatory framework for the rapidly expanding private sector, the second
largest provider of ECCE, raises matters of concern around quality and equity. There have been several
government policies and frameworks reaffirming commitment to developmentally appropriate ECCE
services. However, issues of financing, implementation, quality, accessibility and equity remain to be
adequately addressed, with there being no legislation for mandatory ECCE provisioning for under-six
year olds.
It is against this context that the status report also presents an account of the current status of under-six
year olds in India, specifically in the three states of Delhi, Odisha and Telangana, identifying existing
provisions as well as gaps and challenges with respect to ECCE. A comparison of the three states shows
that trends of health and nutrition indicators and pre-school participation vary widely across states and
also when compared to all-India level statistics.
The desk review and secondary data analysis comprised of research papers, reports, evaluations, policy
documents, surveys, and other sources of government data. In addition, data was also sourced from
various individuals, organisations and institutions engaged in the field of ECCE.
Contents 1. International and national perspectives on ECCE: Significance, implications and models....................... 6
1.1. The need for ECCE .............................................................................................................................. 6
1.2. Research evidence on the impact of ECCE programmes ................................................................... 9
1.3. Models of ECCE provisioning ........................................................................................................... 12
2. Status of Children in India: Provisions of ECCE, challenges and gaps ..................................................... 17
2.1 Health and nutrition status of 0-6 year olds in India ........................................................................ 17
2.2. Pre-school education ....................................................................................................................... 20
2.3. Provisioning for ECCE in India .......................................................................................................... 27
2.3.1 Policy framework for ECCE in India ............................................................................................ 27
2.3.2 Child Budget ............................................................................................................................... 30
2.3.3Provisions for ECCE in India ........................................................................................................ 31
3. Comparison of status of children across three states ............................................................................ 46
3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 46
3.2. Health and nutrition ......................................................................................................................... 48
3.3. Pre-school education ....................................................................................................................... 50
3.3.1 Provisions for ECCE across the three states ............................................................................... 51
4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 55
Annexure 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 56
Annexure 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 59
Annexure 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 62
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Developmental needs from birth to eight Years ............................................................................. 7
Table 2: Population status of 0-6 years in India .......................................................................................... 17
Table 3: Health and nutritional status of 0-6 Year olds in India ................................................................. 17
Table 4: Children receiving pre-school education ...................................................................................... 20
Table 5: Child-related schemes with increased allocations ........................................................................ 30
Table 6: Share of child development in Union Budget ............................................................................... 31
Table 7: Services and beneficiaries of ICDS................................................................................................. 32
Table 8: Activities conducted in the anganwadi centres ............................................................................ 34
Table 9: Total number of creches under the RGNCS .................................................................................. 40
Table 10: Population of 0-6 Year olds across the three states ................................................................... 46
Table 11: Health and nutrition-related indicators for children in Telangana, Odisha and Delhi ................ 48
Table 12: Proportion of children between 0-6 years attending PSE ........................................................... 50
Table 13: State-wise distribution of anganwadis and enrolment as of March 2015 .................................. 51
Table 14: Age-wise participation of children in pre-primary and primary education in rural Odisha and
Telangana .................................................................................................................................................... 53
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: A socio-demographic analysis of children's nutritional status .................................................... 19
Figure 2: Age-wise participation in types of pre-school ............................................................................. 21
Figure 3: Participation in PSE in urban and rural areas............................................................................... 24
Figure 4: Caste-wise participation in PSE .................................................................................................... 25
Figure 5: Participation in PSE by Wealth Index ........................................................................................... 26
Figure 6: Location-wise distribution of wealth indices of children under six ............................................. 27
Figure 7: State-wise distribution of government and private schools with pre-primary sections ............. 41
Figure 8:Comparison of urban-rural populations (in percentages) across the three states ...................... 48
Figure 9: Pre-primary sections attached to government and private schools across the three states ...... 52
Figure 10: Age-wise attendance by ECCE provision type for rural Odisha ................................................. 54
Figure 11: Age-wise Attendance by ECCE provision type for rural Telangana ........................................... 54
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1. International and national perspectives on ECCE: Significance,
implications and models
1.1. The need for ECCE Child development refers to the ordered emergence of interdependent skills of sensory-motor,
cognitive-language skills and social-emotional functioning (Engle et al, 2007). Research in Neuroscience
offers compelling evidence of the significance of the early years of a child’s development, especially
from the pre-natal stage to around two years of age, during which the human brain grows most rapidly.
Within the first six months, the brain reaches 50 percent of its mature weight, and 90 percent by the age
of eight (Woodhead, 2007). The first 1000 days also witness the most rapid period of synapse formation,
or growth in the density of the network of neurons in the brain, a process that reduces gradually from
two to 16 years of age (Woodhead, 2007). Research has shown that the window of opportunity for
addressing a child’s nutritional needs, not only for short-term growth, but also for the generation of
healthy and productive adults in the long term, lies between conception to the age of two (Ruel and
Hoddinott, 2008). Dimensions of undernutrition and its cumulative impact are reflected in stunting (low
height for age), wasting (low weight for height), undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies of
iron, Vitamin A, zinc and iodine, which adversely affect growth, cognitive development, increase chances
of diseases and infections, and in the worst cases, even lead to death. Moreover, since each sensitive
period is associated with specific areas of neurological circuitry, and each stage builds on the previous
development in a sequential manner, the consequences of undernutrition have a long-lasting, often
irreversible, impact on all domains of future development (UNICEF, 2008).
Several such critical and sensitive periods for cognitive, physical, emotional and psychosocial
development are located up to the ages of six to eight and not receiving adequate stimuli during this
period reduces the chances of the brain reaching its full potential, often irreversibly (Kaul and Sankar,
2009). Aside from the genetics of an individual child which determine the neural circuitry of the brain,
these processes are also highly influenced by one’s experiences. Mutual responsiveness or ‘serve and
return’ interaction with adults during childhood play a role in this process (UNESCO, 2015). A safe,
secure and caring environment thus also contributes to positive development outcomes. Several
decades of research on psychosocial risks of children growing up in poverty, without adequate parental
care or brought up in disadvantaged institutional settings also provide evidence of developmental delays
and emotional disturbance (Woodhead, 2007). The educational component of early childhood care, on
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the other hand, aims to tap into the early crucial formative years of a child’s learning capacity for
psychosocial development and school-readiness (UNICEF website, n.d).
The brain, moreover, is a highly integrated organ with multiple functions, so cognitive, emotional and
social competencies are all interdependent and together form the foundation for life-long development
(Shonkoff and Phillips, 2002 cited in UNESCO, 2015). These processes emerge in a sequential and
hierarchical manner, with increasingly complex neural circuits being formed over simpler ones, and
allowing for more complex skills to be inherited over time. Compromising on the simpler circuits during
sensitive periods of brain development makes adaptability at higher levels more difficult by reducing its
capability for re-organisation and re-structuring, thus affecting a person’s skill acquisition and
behavioural adaptation throughout their lives (Heckman et al, 2006 as cited in UNESCO, 2015).
Table 1: Developmental needs from birth to eight years
S.No. Age Group Development Needs
1.
Pre-natal to birth
- Maternal health andnutrition - Parental and family education - Safe motherhood - Maternal support services
2.
Birth to six months
- Maternal health- postpartum care - Exclusive breastfeeding - Infant health - Nutritional security - Responsive care - Early stimulation/play - Safety and security - Support services
3.
Six months to three years
- Infant health - Nutritional security, responsive care - Early stimulation/Play andlearning
Opportunities - Safety and security
4.
Three to six years
- Child Health and nutrition - Adequate nutrition - Day care - Play-based preschool education - Responsive care - Safety and security
5.
Six to eight years
- Child Health and nutrition - Family care - Safety and security - Primary education
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Source: World Bank, 2004. Retrieved from http://earlychildhoodmagazine.org/defining-a-right-to-
integrated-early-childhood-development-in-india/ on 23.9.17
Additionally, aside from the direct benefits of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECD), investments
in ECD have also been viewed from the point of view of economic well-being, as a long-term investment
in human capital with future returns. There is sufficient evidence from several countries to show that
intervention at an early stage is more cost-effective in ensuring future success, rather than spending on
mitigating the effects of developmental deficits at a later stage (UNICEF, 2008; as cited in CBPS, 2017).
The costs incurred are outweighed by the future benefits for both the participants as well as the general
public, in the form of increased employment and earnings and reduced delinquency and crime. A
longitudinal study also estimated that for every dollar spent on ECCE, there is a return of approximately
1290 dollars (Kaul and Sankar, 2009). In fact, the World Bank reports that in the case of disadvantaged
children, there is no equity-efficiency trade off, because it raises the productivity of the workforce and
society at large (cited in Kaul and Sankar, 2009).
Such evidence arising from research in Economics, Neuroscience and Developmental Psychology point at
the need to go beyond addressing particular components of development and focus on the child’s
overall environment, nutrition, education and interaction with parents, families and caregivers. Such a
conception of ECCE has also over time generated the idea of early intervention through institutional or
centre-based care, as opposed to parental or family-based care, and pushed towards the emergence of
the state as a stakeholder with the moral responsibility of provisioning for ECCE (CBPS, 2017). Further
incentives to invest in ECCE have been articulated through arguments that providing ECCE can offset the
effects of poverty on children and contribute to breaking the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage
and foster gender equality by allowing women opportunities to participate in the labour force by
reducing the burden of carework (OECD, 2001). Partnering with families and communities in policy-
making and provisioning may also contribute to community-building (OECD, 2001).
Based on such evidence-based generation of principles of child development, three key points in
planning ECCE programmes have been identified by Kaul and Sankar (2009): child development is
continuous and cumulative; all domains of development such as health, nutrition and education are
synergistically linked; and that a child is affected by socio-economic status and home environment
making it more sustainable and optimal to target the family and community of the child as well. This has
implied that child development professionals and research have moved away from narrow definitions of
pre-school education or nutritional supplementation to more holistic and integrated approaches under
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ECD and ECCE, which combine the range of development needs of a child. Further, while ECE focuses
only on pre-school education provided through nurseries, pre-primary schools, kindergartens
preparatory schools etc, ECCE recognises that childhood itself has sub-categories which have different
development priorities.
1.2. Research Evidence on the impact of ECCE programmes Different types of intervention seem to have impacts on different aspects of the child. For example,
home visits aid in improving maternal and child health and preventing child neglect and abuse while
having relatively lesser effect on cognitive development (Barnett, 1995). Interventions designed
specifically for the educational component show gains in cognitive and language development. It has
been observed through efficacy trials that improved diets for pregnant women, infants and toddlers,
along with food supplementation during the first two-three years of a child’s life can prevent stunting
and lead to better motor and mental development (Engle et al, 2007). Iodine supplementation shows
effects on cognitive and behavioural development, while prevention of iron deficiencies through
supplementation have effects on motor, language and socio-emotional development (Engle et al, 2007).
Research, however, points out a crucial aspect of ECCE, demonstrating that child development
outcomes are greater through combined interventions in all aspects of development (UNESCO, 2015).
Poor care, health and nutrition impact educational outcomes through impaired cognitive and
behavioural capacities, depression, mental retardation and poor concentration, while early health and
nutritional interventions have also been shown to directly contribute to improved school attendance
and achievements (UNESCO, 2015). Quality ECCE is one that integrates education, health and nutrition.
Yoshikawa et al (2013) through a meta-analysis of research evidence on ECCE identify certain crucial
components of ECCE. In terms of practices within ECCE, stimulating and supporting interactions
between the teachers and children along with an effective use of curricula are critical for quality
education and this is further impacted by a careful mentoring and training frameworks for teachers
andcaregivers.
School readiness, one of the objectives of ECCE, is thought to have three major components - preparing
children or ‘ready children’; preparing families or ‘ready families’; and preparing schools themselves, or
‘ready schools’ (UNESCO, 2016). These three dimensions interact to produce children that are better
prepared to enter primary schooling and complete it successfully. UNESCO (2016) mentions the relative
number of new students entering primary schools with prior ECCE exposure as an approximate measure
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of school readiness. Such a figure, however, does not account for the dropout rate at the primary level,
which apart from other factors, may be a result of inadequate school preparedness.
School readiness has traditionally been viewed from a maturationist perspective, involving chronological
milestones according to a child’s age, which led to the emergence of readiness testing at various stages
(Kaul et al, 2017). On the other hand, the empiricist view attempts to determine empirically various sets
of skills which are tangible and measurable, and relatively universal (Kaul et al., 2017). The social
constructivist and interactionist views further complicate these measures by bringing in the socio-
cultural context and the range of factors within the child’s environment respectively, emphasizing the
role that these interactions play in the trajectory of the child’s learning. The Education for All Global
Monitoring Report (2007) suggests that school readiness should encompass five interrelated domains -
the cognitive, physical and motor development, language skills, socio-emotional development and
general knowledge (Kaul et al, 2017).
It has been noted that school readiness cannot be measured as a downward extension of primary school
curriculum in the form of learning the alphabet and numbers but through supporting a child’s learning
through play-based activities which create a conceptual foundation for later learning. Such activities
include classification, sequential thinking, pattern-making, phonemic awareness and pre-number
concepts for building cognitive skills. Other areas focus on vocabulary development, verbal expression,
communication, socialization, self-help and self-regulation skills (Kaul et al., 2017). Further, school
readiness needs to be directed by a child’s development priorities, interests and relevance to their social
context and family life (Kaul et al, 2012). There has been evidence to show the harmful impact of age-
inappropriate curricula, and practices such as rote memorisation or formal academics, on young
children.These weaken the foundation for conceptual learning abilities and may, in the long run, be
counterproductive to the objectives of ECCE (Kaul et al, 2012). Since research also shows that school
readiness is impacted by disparity in household incomes, this further suggests that the provision of ECCE
to disadvantaged children can help address this gap, by equipping them to be better prepared for
primary schooling and reducing the chances of dropping out.
It has been observed through research that cognitive achievements are often only moderately stable
and tend to taper off in effectiveness over time. This may be due to an excessive focus on academic
skills in ECE, without adequately addressing the socio-emotional aspects of school readiness, because of
which a child is unable to adapt to new environments (Gill, Winters and Friedman, 2006). Gill et al
(2006) point out that this is in part a result of parental expectations from schooling, which demand more
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tangible forms of learning such as reading and writing abilities, even though they may not be
appropriate for the child. The role of communication between parents and the school thus becomes a
crucial transition strategy, with parents requiring an awareness of developmentally appropriate
activities, a positive attitude towards the child’s learning in school and also actively engaging with their
progress to create a healthy learning environment at home. However, the details of such strategies,
such as howa parent’s perspective should be incorporated, how often and in what manner
communication should take place and how their concerns may be addressed, remain challenges that
require further attention. Moreover, another important concern raised is socio-cultural differences
among families that not only complicate this form of communication but also imply that not all
individual children will arrive at a stage of school readiness at the same age - dimensions of capacity,
opportunities, social context and background will all have an impact on their learning environment and
in turn on their development progress.
While there seems to be agreement around the importance of ECCE through a recognition of how
crucial the early years of a child are for continuous and cumulative life-long learning and development,
along with the synergistic interrelation between various domains of development such as physical,
cognitive, psychosocial and emotional, there are contestations around what methods are best suited for
achieving these objectives. Debates around how best to meet the objectives of ECCE have been shaped
by various perspectives and schools of thought. Myers (2007) notes that modern and postmodern
thought have greatly influenced this debate. The modern view on education sees practices as objective,
absolute and inherent and hence derivable through the application of logical research. The postmodern,
on the other hand, emphasizes subjectivity and the diversity of experience andcalls for a process of
contextualized “meaning-making” with all stakeholders before arriving at needs, definitions or standards
of educational processes. The attempts at standardisation of ECCE practices through positivist
approaches within psychology have been countered by other movements as well, looking to incorporate
diversity, context, equity and relevance. They have been criticised through feminist, poststructuralist,
postcolonial and postmodern perspectives for their limiting approaches which cannot be universally
applicable across cultures and attempts have been made to reconceptualise early childhood
development as sensitive to diversity through inclusive, indigenous practices (Pence &Hix-Small, 2007).
There has been an increasing recognition in international and national policy in recent times of the need
to balance western principles of child development psychology with indigenous, culturally
contextualised practices. However, planning continues to be dominated by the modern perspective on
education and development (Myers, 2007).
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1.3. Models of ECCE Provisioning Melhuish and Petrogiannis (2006) argue that the development of ECCE programmes in various contexts
is closely linked to the role of women and maternal employment, among other factors. However, each
country’s economic status, social structures and cultural beliefs are to a large extent reflected in the
kinds of policies and provisions made for young children, in turn impacting children’s development
through varying degrees of quality and experiences. This section examines some of the models that have
been implemented in different countries in response to the needs of children within varying contexts. It
aims to provide an insight into potential practices that might be explored in countries with similar
characteristics.
Some of the earliest and most widely reported models of provisioning have been the Perry Preschool
Project and the Carolina Abecedarian Programme in the United States. The HighScope of Perry
Preschool Project was carried out between 1962 and 1967 for low-income, African-American children
aged three and four, providing them with half a day of quality education and home visits revolving
around principles of creating a free learning environment for children while scaffolding their learning
process through trained adult supervision. A study following the life-long development of 123 of these
children (with randomised control and treatment groups) found better classroom and personal
behaviour, lesser youth misconduct and crime, lesser special education requirements and higher on-
time graduation. Benefits accumulated up till the age of 40 in the form of increased earnings, reduced
arrests and decrease in risky behaviour that may lead to adverse health outcomes (Schweinhart et al,
2005 as cited in UNESCO, 2015). The Abecedarian Programme similarly was carried out on mostly
disadvantaged African-American children, but from infancy to the age of five, providing holistic, full-day,
centre-based child care, including nutrition, healthcare and play-based activities aimed at school
readiness. Positive impacts were found with mothers of children having higher income, increase in IQ
levels and achievements in reading and math. IQ levels were, however, found to decline over time.
(Campbell et al, 2012; as cited in UNESCO, 2015).
Engle et al (2007) reviewed 20 ECCE programmes from developing countries to study their effects on
child development. The centre-based programmes were found to improve non-cognitive skills such as
sociability, self-confidence and motivation, while longitudinal studies from Nepal, Argentina, Burma and
Colombia also recorded an increase in the number of children entering school, school retention, and
impacted age of entry and performance. An evaluation of a community feeding and pre-school
programme for disadvantaged children initiated in Peru in the 1980s showed that children who had
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attended the programme performed better in first grade as opposed to those who did not but did not
differ from those in formal pre-schools. Of three World Bank-assisted projects, the two community-
based programmes in Bolivia and the Philippines, one training low-income, urban women to run child
care centres and the other training community development workers respectively, with both receiving
financial support towards holistic and integrated child development activities, showed benefits in the
child’s growth and cognitive development after 6-18 months of exposure to the programme. A third
project in Uganda, restricted to information dissemination, conducting Child Health Days every six
months for healthcare and immunisation, and providing community grants, while displaying an
improvement in childcare practices and behaviour, did not impact cognitive development. This was
attributed to the low intensity of the programme.
Rao and Sun (in UNESCO, 2015) note that in low-income and developing countries with resource
constraints, quality ECCE also serves as a mechanism to promote equity. Their study on ECCE in
Cambodia assessed the three major models of pre-school programmes. State-run pre-primary schools
involve the highest cost, have the most highly trained teachers receiving a government salary and offer
proper infrastructure and learning material for children, for three-hour sessions daily. Community-based
programmes for three to five year olds are provided by a member of the village who receives 10 days of
training followed by annual refresher trainings for three to six days. The stipend for the worker is
managed by the village itself but there are issues in terms of space available and attendance by younger
children. The home-based programme is run by mothers’ groups in villages, and facilitated by a ‘core’
mother who receives two days of training. The costs are again borne by the village itself and mothers
meet before heading out to the fields to work everyday to discuss issues of nutrition, developmental
stages of children and general well-being. The study found that while children attending state pre-
schools performed better on development indicators and school retention in primary grades than those
attending community or home-based programmes (with no significant differences between these two);
all children attending some ECCE programme performed better than those not attending any at all.
Perhaps one way forward would be to improve the quality of community and home-based programmes
by providing adequate funding and capacity-building activities or to invest further in state-run pre-
schools to expand their accessibility.
Parental education and support programmes are one component of ECCE that serve as a medium to
create a healthy and nurturing learning environment for the child. Aside from its normative benefits,
positive parenting is also known to mitigate the effects of poverty, violence and disease. Stimulating
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parenting in low income families can counteract the associated risks to create outcomes for children
equivalent to economically advantaged families (Britto and Engle, in UNESCO 2015). A review of parent-
centred educational programmes by Engle et al. (2007) found them to positively impact child
development. However, these benefits were lower when the programmes were limited to information-
sharing as opposed to skill-building. In Bolivia, for example, a parent education programme involving
information-sharing and skill-building around health, hygiene, nutrition and development, along with a
literacy programme for indigenous women and home visits resulted in better cognitive development for
children aged around two. Turkey and Bangladesh had programmes involving group sessions with
mothers, the former including hands-on skill-building for playing with children and the latter limited to
information-sharing. While in the case of Bangladesh, mothers’ knowledge of child-rearing was seen to
improve, Turkey witnessed improvements in short- and medium-term child development of three to five
year-olds in terms of language skills, school achievement and school retention.
The significant role of parenting is stressed on further by Legrand et al (2015) in noting the adverse
effects of an overrepresentation of vulnerable children under three in residential institutional care in
Central and Eastern European countries/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS). These are
often children with disabilities, from Roma/young/single/using drugs or alcohol/HIV positive/disabled
parents. Testimonies from individuals who have grown up in institutional care demonstrate that family
or family-like settings are more helpful for integration in society and this is backed up Neuroscience
which stresses on the importance of mutual interactions between children and caregivers and the role
of parents in providing care. Countries such as Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria have adopted laws
and strategies to ban the institutionalisation of young children and focus instead on community-based
child and family services. One such measure for eliminating the institutionalisation of young children
involves social protection through support services or cash transfers to the most vulnerable families in
order to enable them to raise their own children, especially children with disabilities.
Parenting targeted indirectly through poverty alleviation has also served as an intervention to improve
parenting practices indirectly, predominantly in Latin America (Britto and Engle, in UNESCO 2015).
Several governments in South and Latin America such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile, have implemented
cash transfer programmes which aim at poverty alleviation through targeting families below a certain
income bracket. These programmes provide cash to families and function on the assumption that those
living in poverty are unable to invest enough in human capital despite being aware of its benefits and
would be able to do so with monetary assistance and break the intergenerational cycle of poverty in the
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long term. At times, this cash transfer is conditional on complying with certain requirements, such as
participating in health care, nutritional or education programmes, especially for children. Fernald,
Gertler and Neufeld (2008) analysed the role of one such conditional cash transfer programme,
Oportunidades, in Mexico, in particular, to explore the relation between cumulative cash transfers and
effects on child growth health and development outcomes.
Oportunidades provides cash transfers to participating households in two forms. The first is a monthly
stipend conditional on preventive health check-ups, with the intention that the money is spent on
nutritional needs of the family, and the second is in the form of a scholarship to children attending
school regularly from the third grade onwards. The study found that increased cumulative cash transfers
resulted in better outcomes in all the domains of development analysed for children between the age of
24and 68 months who had been exposed to the programme their entire lives. Doubling of cash transfers
were found to be associated with increase in height, lower prevalence of stunting, improvement in
endurance, long-term memory, short-term memory and language development. These improvements in
physical, cognitive and language development may have been produced via two potential pathways:
first, an increased purchasing power which could be spent on food items, household items and material
such as books or toys for the child’s cognitive stimulation and second, an overall improvement in the
psychological well-being of the family, resulting in a more caring and nurturing home environment for
the child.
Several Asian countries such as Mongolia, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Malaysia also experimented
with income support for parents through conditional cash transfer programmes. In Bangladesh, the cash
transfer was conditional on regular growth monitoring for the child and non-mandatory information-
dissemination sessions with mothers on nutrition and health. In a pilot, significant impacts were found
in terms of reduced stunting of children and increased awareness on the importance of exclusive
breastfeeding of infants (UNESCO, 2016). China introduced a voucher and conditional cash transfer
scheme for children from poor households. However, despite an increase in pre-school participation,
this did not lead to better child development outcomes due to the poor quality of schooling (UNESCO,
2016). This alerts one to the need to simultaneously invest in the provisioning of quality ECCE.
Coordination and integration of service provisioning between different government entities has been
considered one of the most effective means of providing holistic and quality ECCE for children (Kaga et
al. 2010 as cited in UNESCO, 2016). The Philippines, for example, set up a national ECD council in 2009
and used ECCE legislation for the expansion of multi-sectoral initiatives. Further, decentralisation of
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ECCE has been explored which requires that programmes be managed locally by community and local
governments. In Nepal, there is direct funding by international and national organisations, aid donors
and non-government organisations (NGOs) for communities to develop ECCE programmes for children
aged between two and three years. The centres are set up in the community and the caregivers are local
womenwho are trained to provide day care and early stimulation. Technical and financial support is also
provided by the government’s Department of Education. While there are issues of quality that remain
unaddressed, this community-based care and education for younger children has enabled an increase in
access to pre-school through an expansion of enrolment in government-run, school-based centres at the
age of four and entry into primary school at five (UNESCO, 2016).
Soudee (2009) explored the inclusion of culturally relevant indigenous practices in ECCE programmes
which were in some cases implemented jointly by international institutions in three West African
countries - The Gambia, Mali and Senegal. In The Gambia, the social and emotional well-being of
children were seen to be maintained through frequent play, locally produced toys and regular
interaction with adult members through storytelling, songs and play, imparting traditional knowledge.
While these have not yet been included in any formal ECCE programmes, they have been studied to
show benefits in children’s social interactions and emotional health and should be incorporated into
formal programmes (Sagnia, 2004 as cited in Soudee, 2009). In Mali, the Clos d’enfantsprogramme
implemented in partnership with UNESCO, and Save the Children’s Strong Beginnings are both examples
of models which combine local knowledge and resources with Western modes of pedagogy. The
communities are involved in deciding whether or not to adopt the model, teachers are hired locally from
the community and indigenous languages, beliefs and child-rearing practices are utilised.
As Serpell and Nsamenang (in UNESCO 2015) note, in Africa, various indigenous concepts of human
development and socialisation existing along with formal educational models of cognitive growth create
tensions and challenges in planning for ECCE programmes. Western tools and indicators to assess
children tend to underestimate their progress since they do not adequately adapt to a child’s context.
For example, the practice of care-giving by pre-adolescents, contrary to being exploitative, is seen as a
participatory component of social integration and staying grounded in the realities of daily life. It was
actually successfully incorporated into a primary school curriculum for promoting social responsibility
among both boys and girls in Zambia, leading to better academic outcomes as well. Indigenous play,
music and dance, given attention only for its cognitive or physical benefits in western ECCE, also serves
as a mode of “interactive social enculturation and structuring opportunities for the rehearsal, critique
17 | P a g e
and appropriation of cultural practices” (Fortes, 1970; Schwartzman, 1978; Lancy, 1996 as cited in
Serpell and Nsamenang, 2015). Including cultural relevance as criteria for the approval of ECCE services,
institutions and training will be a major step towards the incorporation of traditional knowledge,
resources and practices for a more inclusive form of child care and education.
2. Status of Children in India: Provisions of ECCE, Challenges and Gaps Having reviewed international and national literature, describing various practices and models that have
beneficial impacts on early childhood, this chapter examines the status of ECCE provisions and children
between 0-6 years in India. According to the Handbook of Children’s Statistics, 2014 compiled by the
National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), the total population of 0-6
year olds in India is 165.4 million (16.54 crores), constituting 13.59% of India’s total population. The rural
component accounts for over 121 million of children in this age group (73%), with the urban component
at a little over 43 million (26 %), similar to the trends in the total urban-rural population divide. The sex
ratio for this age group is at a dismal low of 919 females per 1000 males, down from the 2001 figure of
927. This is in spite of the sex ratio of the total population having increased from 933 to 943 in the same
period.1
Table 2: Population status of 0-6 years in India as of 2014
No. of children in 0-6 age group 165.4 million
0-6 age group share in India's total population 13.59%
No. of children in 0-6 age group (Rural) 121 million
No. of children in 0-6 age group (Urban) 44 million Source: Handbook of Children’s Statistics, 2014 compiled by NIPCCD
2.1 Health and nutrition Status of 0-6 year olds in India
Table 3: Health and nutritional status of 0-6 year olds in India
Status of children Under 6@ 2005-06
NFHS 3
2015-16
NFHS 4
1 Source : Census of India 2011, Population Enumeration Data (Final Population) age data, Table C-13 Office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi. www.censusindia.gov.in
18 | P a g e
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) 57 41
Children under five years who
are wasted (i.e. low weight for
height) (%)
19.8 21
Children under five years who
are underweight (%)
42.5 35.7
% of children 12-23 months fully
immunised
43.5 62
Children age 6 – 35 months who
are anaemic
69.4 58.4
Source: NFHS 4 India Factsheet (2015-16)
A perusal of data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted periodically by the Ministry
of Family Health and Welfare (MFHW), Government of India (GoI), reveals that nutritional and health
indicators of children below five years has largely improved. However, much is still to be achieved, with
infant mortality rates still standing higher than the global average (of 32 in 2015)2,and over ten times
higher than the average for Organisation of Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD) countries
in 2013 (OECD Health Statistics, 2015).
The Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR)3 is 28, while the Early NMR4 is 22.5 The Under 5 Mortality Rate
(U5MR) is 49, again higher than the global average of 43 (WHO, 2015) and India ranks 48th in a list of
countries with the highest U5MRs (The State of the World’s Children, UNICEF, 2016).
2 Global Health Observatory Data, World Health Organisation (WHO, 2017). http://www.who.int/gho/child_
health/mortality/neonatal_infant_text/en/ 3The number of children per 1000 live births who do not survive beyond 28 days after birth
4The number of children per 1000 live births who do not survive beyond 7 days after birth
5Source: Sample Registration System, Statistical Report, 2013, Office of the Registrar General and
Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi, p.86.
19 | P a g e
Rajan, Gangbar and Gayathri (2014) have also noted that compared to its neighboursSri Lanka,
Bangladesh and Nepal, India still lags behind with respect to child health and nutrition. Malnutrition has
been identified as a key factor affecting mortality rates and India is still seen to have high numbers of
moderately or severely malnourished children, with 30 percent of newborns being significantly
underweight and 60 percent of Indian women anaemic (Claeson et al., 2000).
Figure 1: A Socio-demographic analysis of children's nutritional status
Source: NFHS 4 India Factsheet
Further, there are wide regional variations in health and nutritional outcomes with the southern states
of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu showing much greater improvements than
eastern states such as Bihar and Jharkhand (Lokshin et al, 2005). NFHS 4 data also shows that children's
nutritional status was directly related to education and wealth indicators, with more children in the
lower levels on wealth and educational indices being stunted or wasted. With respect to social category,
Scheduled Tribes (STs), followed by Scheduled Castes (SCs) had a larger proportion of malnourished
children (see figure 1).
The poor performance in health and nutrition indicators has been attributed to the lack of policy priority
afforded to these areas by the state, with Mundle (2011) arguing that there is a serious deficit with
respect to medical facilities and transportation to quickly access medical facilities in the country, severe
shortage of human resources and inefficient delivery systems (as cited in Rajan et al, 2014).
20 | P a g e
2.2. Pre-school education
Table 4: Children receiving pre-school education
Background
characteristics
Attending PSE (Percentage %)
ICDS Private Not attending
PSE
Don’t
know/Not
available
Total
Age of child in completed years
3 42.2 17.3 35.0 5.5 100
4 41.4 31.2 24.9 2.5 100
5 32.7 43.5 21.4 2.4 100
Gender
Male 37.5 31.7 27.4 3.5 100
Female 40.1 29.6 26.9 3.5 100
Residence
Urban 22.2 50.4 24.5 2.9 100
Rural 46.0 22.0 28.3 3.8 100
Religion
Hinduism 40.0 30.6 25.9 3.5 100
Islam 34.4 27.6 34.0 4.0 100
Christianity 35.2 38.5 25.6 0.7 100
Sikhism 21.9 52.8 23.3 1.9 100
21 | P a g e
Jainism 27.4 58.1 12.4 2.1 100
Buddhism 49.1 31.4 18.2 1.3 100
No Religion 25.5 24.8 46.6 3.2 100
Other 39.3 30.2 26.9 3.7 100
Social group
SC 42.3 24.9 29.4 3.4 100
ST 52.0 17.4 26.9 3.7 100
OBC 35.9 31.9 28.3 4.0 100
Others 34.3 39.3 23.6 2.7 100
No Response 49.3 16.9 31.7 2.0 100
Wealth index
Lowest 51.9 8.6 34.8 4.8 100
Second 49.2 17.2 29.2 4.0 100
Middle 42.8 27.9 25.9 3.4 100
Fourth 30.1 42.6 24.5 2.8 100
Highest 16.0 61.6 20.3 2.2 100
Total 38.7 30.7 27.1 3.5 100
Source: Rapid Survey on Children National Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development and
UNICEF, 2013-14
The participation of children in pre-school programmes has also shown an improvement but covers just
over half the population in the three to five age group.
Figure 2: Age-wise participation in types of pre-school
22 | P a g e
Source: Rapid Survey on Children National Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development and
UNICEF, 2013-14
Data in itself is unreliable, since different sources provide varied estimates for the number of children
enrolled in a pre-primary school in the first place. While UNICEF data6 puts the estimate of three to six
year olds enrolled in pre-primary schools at 58%, the Ministry for Women and Child Development
(MWCD) data suggests that about 70% are enrolled in some form of private or ICDS programme. This
high figure is attributed to the crucial step of universalisation of the ICDS scheme along with the rapid
expansion of the private sector, not only in urban, but also rural and tribal areas. A NIPCCD study that
sampled 748 ICDS projects across the country, found that on average, 37 children per anganwadi centre
(AWC) were registered for PSE and 75% of those registered were attending the AWC (NIPCCD, 2006).
According to the Rapid Survey on Children (RSOC) 2013-14, while at the ages of three and four, around
40 percent were registered, it reduces to about 32 percent by the age of five. The reasons attributed for
this is due to the early start of primary school, as was also reported by respondents during our fieldwork
(discussed in more detail later).
Another study conducted by FSG (2015)7 showed that 79% of children in the age group of two to six
years were attending pre-school. Of the 21% not attending any pre-school, three-fourths were in the
6 https://data.unicef.org/country/ind/ Note: this refers to gross enrolment ratio.
7 4299 listing interviews, 2010 structured interviews and 108 customers through FGDs/in depth interviews across 8
urban cities were conducted
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Age 3 Age 4 Age 5
Pe
rce
nt
Age of Child
Not Attending PSE
Private PSE
Anganwadi Centre
23 | P a g e
two to three age group. A longitudinal study conducted by CECED similarly finds that close to two-thirds
of all children in the villages sampled across three states were participating in some form of ECCE
programme, and each village had at least one AWC, along with private facilities in many.
Based on the numbers reported by the MWCD and UNICEF, India perhaps performs no worse than other
countries with respect to pre-school enrolment. In fact, it appears to be ahead of the global average
(gross enrolment ratio for pre-primary education stands at 48 percent).8 A UNICEF (2015) report on
‘Early Childhood Development: A Statistical Snapshot’, also reveals that fewer than 50 percent of
children between 36-59 months are attending some form of early childhood education, and that
children from the lowest quintile are the most disadvantaged in terms of access to pre-school
education.9However, according to World Bank data (2017), India's gross enrolment ratio in pre-primary
school stands at 12 percen, which is much lower compared to its neighbours such as Sri Lanka (93
percent), Nepal (85 percent), Pakistan (72 percent) and Bangladesh (31 percent).10
Overall, all data sources suggest a large number of children between three to six years not covered
under some form of early childhood education programme, both across the world as well as in India.
The RSOC 2013-14 pegs this number at 27 percent of the child population between three to five years.
This also suggests the need to review existing provisions and step up efforts to ensure education
investments and provisions. In the next section, we examine the available policies, provisions and
budgets for early childhood education in India before concluding the chapter with an analysis of existing
gaps that need to be immediately addressed in order to ensure equitable outcomes for all children.
Sex-wise distribution: There is a slightly higher proportion of boys attending private pre-schools (31.7
percent) compared to girls(29.6 percent), a higher proportion of whom are in AWCs (40.1 percent
compared to 37.5 percent boys). The number of boys and girls out of pre-school are almost similar (refer
Table 3).
Urban-Rural distribution: Over half the children in urban areas are enrolled in private PSE, with only 22
percent in AWCs, while it is the opposite in rural areas, with almost half the children enrolled in AWCs. A
8 Note: The global average has been sourced from the World Bank dataset on' Gross enrolment ratio, pre-primary,
both sexes (%)' (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRE.ENRR?locations=US-IN), which reports a corresponding figure of 12 percent for India. 9 Note: These figures are based on survey conducted in the African, Middle Eastern, East Asian, Latin American and
Caribbean countries only. 10
This may however be inaccurate estimates as an analysis of country-wise estimates do not match other data
sources.
24 | P a g e
slightly higher proportion of rural children (28.3 percent) are out-of-preschool, compared to urban
children (24.5 percent).
Figure 3: Participation in PSE in urban and rural areas
Source: Rapid Survey on Children National Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development and
UNICEF, 2013-14
Social Category-wise distribution: Amongst Christians, Sikhs and Jains, there are slightly higher
proportions of children attending private ECCE centres (38.5 percent, 52.8 percent and 58.1 percent
respectively). One possible reason for this could be that children from these communities attend private
institutions that are being run by their own religious groups. These institutions (run by specific religious
groups) form a small component of ECCE provisioning but are highly competitive with the private sector
(Kaul and Sankar, 2009). An analysis of children out-of-preschool by religious category shows that about
46.6 percent children (on the RSOC 2013-14) have given no religion, while children belonging to the
Muslim community form the second largest group of out-of-preschool children (at 34 percent).
A caste-wise analysis shows that majority of SCs and STs attend AWCs and less than one fourth attend
private centres. Amongst OBCs, roughly equal proportions attend both AWcs as well as private centres.
Among other castes, there are slightly more children (close to 40%) attending private centres other than
anganwadis. This may point at the fact that despite the mushrooming of private PSE institutions all
across rural and urban India, the benefits of such education is still skewed along castelines. The socially
marginalised sections, also often economically disadvantaged, possibly continue to depend on
government welfare provisioning. This number, however, could be even higher with almost 50 percent
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Urban Rural
Pe
rce
nt
Residence
Not Attending PSE
Private PSE
Anganwadi Centre
25 | P a g e
children, whose caste status is undetermined, reporting that they attended anganwadis. Close to 30
percent of this group was also not availing any form of PSE, while the second highest group that
reported availing no PSE was SCs (29.4 percent). OBCs follow close behind with 28.3 percent out-of-
preschool, followed by STs with 26.9 percent out-of-preschool.
Figure 4: Caste-wise participation in PSE
Source: Rapid Survey on Children National Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development and
UNICEF, 2013-14
Participation in PSE by wealth index: A wealth-wise distribution shows similar trends with regard to
children attending government and privately run ECCE centres, or rather, makes the disproportionate
distribution of ECCE centres even starker. While the two lower wealth quintiles largely attend the ICDS,
there is a rapid decrease in availing ICDS services over the next three quintiles. There is simultaneously a
huge increase in children attending private services, with an increase in the wealth index of the family.
Moreover, the proportion of children not attending PSE also decreases with an increase in household
wealth. The trend of higher household wealth correlating with a higher tendency to attend some form of
PSE has been utilised positively to increase participation in PSE programmes, through various cash
transfer programmes in Latin America. In one study, a cumulative increase in cash transfers was found
to result in better development outcomes in all domains (Fernald, Gertler and Neufeld, 2008), also
suggesting concomitantly that lower household wealth may curtail access to ECCE programmes. This
trend translating into higher participation in private ECCE programmes may pose a challenge in light of
the lack of quality regulation or a monitoring framework for such centres. It also has implications
regarding state social sector funds being invested in the private sector, as several commentators have
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
SC ST OBC Others No Response
Pe
rce
nt
Social Groups
Not Attending any PSE
Private PSE
Anganwadi Centre
26 | P a g e
pointed out that this comes at the cost of lesser funds for strengthening and subsequent neglect of
government programmes for which huge investments have already been made in terms of
infrastructure, human resources, etc.
Figure 5: Participation in PSE by wealth index
Source: Rapid Survey on Children National Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development and
UNICEF, 2013-14
A closer look at the profile of children under six years of age, as given in Figure 6, shows that while there
are an equal proportion of children within each quintile at the all-India level (approximately 20 percent),
these figures look very different for urban and rural areas. While close to 70 percent of all urban
children under the age of six fall within the two upper wealth quintiles, over 70 percent of rural children
are in the bottom three quintiles.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
First Wealth Quintile
Second Wealth Quintile
Third Wealth Quintile
Fourth Wealth Quintile
Fifth Wealth Quintile
Pe
rce
nt
Wealth Index
Not Attending Any PSE
Private PSE
Anganwadi Centre
27 | P a g e
Figure 6: Location-Wise Distribution of Wealth Indices of Children Under 6
Source: Rapid Survey on Children National Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development and
UNICEF, 2013-14
2.3. Provisioning for ECCE in India
2.3.1 Policy framework for ECCE in India
There have been several policies in India that directly address the needs of the young child, creating an
enabling framework for the provision of ECCE services. The National Policy on Education (1986 and
1992) recognized ECCE as a critical input in Human Resource Development and as a support for primary
education, strongly advocating for the play way method at this stage as opposed to formal teaching
methods such as the 3Rs or reading, writing and arithmetic (Kaul et al, 2012). The National Policy for the
Child (1974) articulated governmental commitment to provide for the child in a holistic and integrated
manner and the need to build the capacities of caregivers, after which the ICDS was initiated in 1975 on
a pilot basis. The National Nutrition Policy (1993) and the National Health Policy (2002) identified 0-6
year olds as a vulnerable group and articulated programmatic interventions and the need for improving
indicators. The National Plan of Action (NPA) (1992) laid down time-bound targets and strategies to
achieve the overall survival, growth and development of children (Kaul et al, 2012). India is also a
signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (1989) and Education for All (EFA) (1990)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Urban Rural Total
We
alth
Qu
inti
le
Residence
Fifth Wealth Quintile
Fourth Wealth Quintile
Third Wealth Quintile
Second Wealth Quintile
First Wealth Quintile
28 | P a g e
which positions ECCE as the very first goal to be achieved, with these goals being further reaffirmed in
the Dakar Framework for Action (2000) and the Moscow Framework for Action (2010) (MWCD, 2013).
The Constitution of India under the Directive Principles for State Policy in the amended Article 45 states
that “The State shall endeavour to provide ECCE for all children until they complete the age of six years”.
However, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act which came into effect in
2010, while making education a fundamental right of children from six to 14 years of age, left children
under the age of six out of its scope. Despite recent commitments from the government towards ECCE
in the form of universalisation of the ICDS and the National ECCE Policy (2013), it is yet to be recognised
as a fundamental right. A sub-committee was set up by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)
on the order of the MHRD to examine the feasibility of the extension of the RTE to pre-primary
education, which prepared a drafting framework to define boundaries for pre-school education and
identified issues of the entry age of children, teacher capacities and qualifications, focus on child-
centred and developmentally appropriate pedagogies and coordination with implementation of ICDS as
key points for further discussion (CABE, 2013). Along with a draft framework for including pre-primary
education within the scope of the RTE and defining the norms for pre-school education, it was
recommended that wider consultations be held with stakeholders prior to preparing a final framework
and extending the RTE to pre-primary education.
National Early Childhood Care and Education Policy (2013)11
The recent National ECCE Policy (2013) reaffirms the government’s commitment towards a holistic and
integrated approach to the provision of childcare in the country, drawing on critical evidence and
research in the field around the importance of ECCE and the need for developmentally appropriate
practices at each sub-stage of a child’s life, following a lifecycle approach. It also notes the previous lack
of quality standards and regulatory mechanisms and aims to bring under its purview all types of ECCE
models such as anganwadis, balwadis, creches, nurseries, pre-primary schools, kindergartens, play
schools, preparatory schools, home based care etc, being provided by public, private and NGO service
providers. The objective of the policy is to promote free, universal, equitable, inclusive and
contextualised learning.
The context and need for the policy arises out the fundamental changes in the family structure that has
taken place over the years, with a breakdown of traditional joint families as well as more women
11
The National ECCE policy is supported by a National ECCE curriculum framework, given in Annexure 1
29 | P a g e
participating in the labour work force, leading to the absence of traditional structures that passed on
childcare practices through generations. This has come hand in hand with crucial scientific evidence and
an emerging global recognition of the need for quality ECCE, entailing a necessary strengthening of
capacities of service providers, parents as well as communities to be able to cope with the development
requirements of young children within diverse social contexts.
The policy also refers to the various earlier policies that have articulated the importance of ECCE, the
latest among them being the RTE, which states under Section 11 that “with a view to prepare children
under the age of three years for elementary education and to provide early childhood care and
education to all children till they complete the age of six years, the appropriate government may make
necessary arrangements for providing free pre-school education for such children.” This, however, is not
mandatory under the RTE.
As per the ECCE policy, the government is to be guided by the objectives of universalising ECCE through
the provision of a comprehensive childcare support system, services and facilities and capacity-building
of all stakeholders, while ensuring that these function within the prescribed quality standards. It is also
to bridge the gap between home-based care, institutional care and the transition to schools, by
involving the families and communities of children, raising awareness, developing culturally appropriate
practices and adopting decentralised and participative strategies.
The main channel for the provision of universal childcare remains the ICDS, within which the AWC is to
be repositioned as a ‘vibrant child-friendly ECD centre’ (MWCD, n.d., p.10)and other government
schemes are to be realigned with the above-mentioned objectives through linkages and convergence
with other departments and programmes. Alongside, various not-for-profit as well as for-profit NGO
and private initiatives which adhere to prescribed quality standards will be experimented with,
promoted and supported, wherever feasible. The regulatory framework pertaining to infrastructure,
teacher-student interactions, curriculum, pedagogy, health, nutrition, parent and community
involvement and teacher professional development is to be implemented by different states in phases -
from registration to accreditation to regulation. The apex body for implementation, assessment and
evaluation of all ECCE programmes is the National ECCE Council and each state is to setup its own ECCE
Council as well. Monitoring and supervision should incorporate the latest technology for the collection
and analysis of data and be measured against clearly defined outcome indicators. Research and
advocacy in the area of ECCE will also be supported and funded as per the policy, with the aim of
reaching out to the most vulnerable populations.
30 | P a g e
While the policy commits to increase investment in the field of ECCE, increase aggregate expenditure on
programmes and services, and develop disaggregated child budgets, it very noticeably does not
elaborate on the details of budgeting and financing these services.
2.3.2 Child Budget
India is one of the few countries in the world to have recognised the need for a separate çhild budgeting
exercise. The Child Budget refers to the total outlays on child-specific schemes within the national
budget, and this is categorised into four main sectors - Child Development, Child Health, Child Education
and Child Protection. This has been made part of the Expenditure Budget presented with the Finance Bill
every year in the form of Statement 22 - Budget Provisions for Schemes for the Welfare of Children
(HAQ, 2016). The share for children in the Union budget in 2016-17 has gone up slightly from 3.26
percent in 2015-16, to 3.32%. This figure, however, is still far lower than the share allocated in 2012-13
(which was 4.76%), since when it has been declining, despite a slight increase this year. Further, this
does not even meet the conservative estimates made in the National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC,
2016), which demands that at least five percent of the Union Budget be spent on programmes directly
related to children (Ganotra, 2017).
Table 5: Child-related schemes with increased allocations
Scheme Previous Allocation (INR) New Allocation (INR)
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) 225 billion 235 billion
Midday Meal Scheme (MDM) 97 billion 100 billion
Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS) 140 billion
152.45 billion
NRHM flexible pool 21.1 billion 24.5 billion
Source: Ganotra, 2017
Analysing the increase in the current budget, Ganotra (2017) notes that the allocations have mainly
increased in four schemes (as shown in Table 4), of which ICDS is the only scheme that directly
contributes to children between 0-6 years. However, as commentators note, this increase is not as
significant as it seems. First, since the increase of INR 12.45 billion is clearly not enough to universalise
the scheme (which currently caters to only about 50 percent of the population) and is definitely not
31 | P a g e
enough to convert the vision of 'anganwadi-cum-crèche' into reality as envisaged under the restructured
ICDS scheme. Further INR 5 billion from this fund has been actually allocated for women empowerment
schemes (Mahila Shakti Centres) (Ganotra, 2017a;b).
It is important to note that the budget for ICDS, while increasing from the previous year, is still lower
than between 2012-2015, when it was actually on the rise. While there is an allocation of INR 140 billion
for ICDS, this falls more than halfway short of what is required to implement ICDS in mission mode,
estimated at INR 303.25 billion. The Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme (RGNCS) has also seen a
reduction in allocation, from INR 2.05 billion to INR 1.50 billion in 2016-17.
Table 6: Share of child development in the Union Budget
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Share of child
development
in Union
Budget
1.10% 1.10% 1.06% 0.51% 0.77%
Source: Budget for Children 2016-17, HAQ
Further, when one analyses the share of child development schemes (which is the sector that caters to
0-6 years, with schemes such as ICDS and RGNCS allocations), a similar pattern is observable. Though
the total share of child development budget at 0.77 percent of the union budget is a 67.7 percent
increase from the previous year’s budget, it is much lower than the allocations for child development
made between2012 and 2015.
The National ECCE policy of 2013 recommends the setting up of national- and state-level ECCE councils,
yet to witness allocation in the child budget, as is the setting up of statutory crèches by the Labour
Ministry.
2.3.3Provisions for ECCE in India
Provisions for ECCE in India can broadly be defined as options available under the government, private
and NGO sectors. However, even within these different sectors, there is a wide diversity in the kinds of
programmes, size, structure, processes, quality and costs, impacting learning outcome levels of children
(CECED, n.d.). There are almost 130 publicly sponsored programmes under various ministries and
32 | P a g e
departments which cater to the needs of children from the prenatal stage to the age of six years, most
of them directed at disadvantaged communities (Kaul and Sankar, 2009).What is also important to note
is that access to various ECCE provisions is influenced by socio-economic differences (as with school
education), with high fee-charging institutions, following Western models/pedagogies mainly accessed
by the upwardly mobile, urban middle class (Kapoor, 2006).
A. Public Provisions for ECCE
I. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) According to Kapoor (2006): "...the Integrated
Child Development Service (ICDS) is the world’s largest integrated childhood programme, modelled in
part on the US Head Start programme (Bhavnagri, 1995)." ICDS is the flagship programme of the central
government which seeks to provide a holistic and integrated package of services related to health,
nutrition and pre-primary education, following a life-cycle approach. ICDS targets pregnant women,
lactating mothers and children from the prenatal stage to 6 years of age. It provides a package of six
services: supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition and health education,
immunisation, health check-up and referral services.
The nodal agency responsible for the programme is the MWCD. However, due to its integrated nature,
other ministries such as the Ministry for Health and Family Welfare (MHFW), Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD) and the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE), are also
involved. The convergence between the various services of the ICDS and the different ministries
responsible for it is to be operationalized through the creation of AWCs, where each of these services is
provided through the coordination between various sectors, departments and ministries.
Table 7: Services and beneficiaries of ICDS12
Services Target Group Service provided by
(i) Supplementary
nutrition
Children below 6 years,
Pregnant and lactating
mothers
Anganwadi worker and anganwadi
helper [MWCD]
(ii) Immunisation Children below 6 years,
Pregnant and lactating
ANM/MO
[Health system, MHFW]
12
Details regarding each of these services is given in Annexure 2.
33 | P a g e
Mothers
(iii) Health check-up Children below 6 years,
Pregnant and lactating
mothers
ANM/MO/AWW
[Health system, MHFW]
(iv) Referral services Children below 6 years,
Pregnant and lactating
mothers
AWW/ANM/MO
[Health system, MHFW]
(v) Pre-School education Children 3-6 years AWW
[MWCD]
(vi) Nutrition and health
education
Women (15-45 years) AWW/ANM/MO
[Health system, MHFW & MWCD]
Source: MWCD website
The number of operational AWCs as of 2015 was 1.35 million, of which only 1.25 million provide pre-
school education. The number of 0-6 year olds availing benefits of the SNC is 82.8 million, while the
figure including pregnant and lactating women is 102.2 million. The coverage of ICDS has increased over
the years but between 2013-14 and 2014-15, despite an increase in the target and actual number of
ICDS projects and operational AWCs, the number of beneficiaries of the supplementary nutrition
programme and pre-school education have decreased, which is a cause of concern(for more details on
coverage see Annexure 2).
The decline in the population availing ICDS services, despite increase in budgets and provisions made for
universalisation since 2001 (Rajan et al., 2014) is attributable to several factors, ranging from problems
with implementation, lack of political will as well as a result of changing aspirations among parents,
particularly with respect to preschool education. Rajan et al. (2014) argue that a critical issue has been
the continued efforts to expand an inefficient model with a view to ensuring political returns rather than
beneficiary improvements. In this regard, they argue, the programme has remained focused on
achieving universal targets with a single-minded focus on providing inputs and monitoring outputs (e.g.,
number of centres established, staff trained, village nutrition days organised, amount of money spent,
etc) rather than focusing on issues of quality.
34 | P a g e
Participation in at the anganwadi level is marred by perceptions of the anganwadi as primarily a feeding
centre for the poor, with the programme still continuing to be perceived mainly as a nutrition
programme. Identifying this as the 'paediatric orientation' of the programme, with its greater emphasis
on nutrition compared to education, Kapoor (2006) notes that this is due to long history wherein
preschool education was considered secondary to health education and nutrition, due to the poor
survival rates of children prior to the 1990s.
However, even with improvements in child mortality, there is little evidence of a shift towards attention
to pre-school education (Upadhyay et al., 1998; Cleghorn and Prochner, 2003; as cited in Kapoor, 2006).
These findings were supported even in a recent study conducted by the Centre for Budget and Policy
Studies (CBPS-UNICEF, 2017), reviewing the ICDS and its expenditures in Karnataka. Parent respondents
across 100 anganwadis reported that anganwadis continued to privilege nutrition over education and
only 15 percent of the respondents reported pre-school education of at least three hours, while
anganwadi workers (AWWs) themselves reported less than two hours of pre-school education.
Despite its important place within the ICDS, pre-school education continues to be one of the weakest
links in the programme. While there have been several efforts made to monitor the nutritional status of
children, little has been done to monitor the pre-school educational component which includes activities
for cognitive, social and motor development (CBPS-UNICEF, 2017; Kaul, 2002).This is a tragedy since the
ICDS provides one of the best examples of a developmentally appropriate, non-formal curriculum for
pre-school children.
Table 8: Activities conducted in the AWCs
Activity Rural (%) Tribal (%) Urban (%) Total (%)
Free conversation 73.1 72.9 83.3 74.7
Storytelling 90.6 91.2 96.7 91.7
Songs 93.9 97.6 95.8 95.1
35 | P a g e
Counting 89.5 92.4 96.7 91.3
Drawing/painting
/colouring
42.1 47.6 45.8 44.4
Outdoor games 71.6 68.8 67.5 70.3
Threading 15.3 24.1 17.5 17.6
Matching colours 62.4 66.5 68.3 64.3
Indoor games 79.5 72.9 77.5 77.7
Others (Picture
books, toys,
swings, see-saws,
dolls, rings, blocks
etc)
17.9 17.1 19.2 17.9
N=748 projects; Source: NIPCCD, 2006
An analysis of the pre-school programme of the ICDS, in fact, reveals that the focus of learning in
anganwadis consist of structured and unstructured play and learning experiences to promote the social,
emotional, mental, physical and aesthetic development of the child (Kapoor, 2006). Teaching is often
conducted in the mother tongue.
However, despite having a progressive curriculum, implementation of the pre-school education
component of the ICDS itself suffers due to several reasons. A study conducted by NIPCCD (2006) has
shown that among the range of activities prescribed, those that are less resource-intensive, such as
storytelling, singing or counting activities, are being practiced in more centres, while those such as
colouring/drawing, or utilising material considered age-appropriate such as blocks, rings, beads, strings
etc are not as prevalent. This has largely been due to the non-availability of material in the centres, due
36 | P a g e
to lack of budgetary allocation. The data on the availability of PSE kits in AWCs, which is supposed to
consist of appropriate play material, stationery and teaching aids for pre-reading and writing, shows that
44 per cent of all AWCs sampled in the study did not possess a PSE kit, which is reflected in figures for
PSE activities conducted across centres as well (NIPCCD, 2006). The NIPCCD (2006) report also suggests
that one way to address the frequency of such activities is through improvisation with locally available
material, since this reduces dependence on non-indigenous material for play, increasing familiarity for
the children and also turns out to be more cost-effective in light of resource-constraints in several
AWCs.
Similarly, a study by CBPS-UNICEF (2017), conducted across 100 AWCs in Karnataka showed that only 38
had at least five different kinds of PSE material. Like the NIPCCD study, this study also reported that
there were more centres with academic material such as flash cards to teach colours, numbers, letters,
stories, simple puzzles, picture books on animals, vegetables, fruits, and parts of the body), than play
material such as stuffed toys, building blocks, small drums and so on. This is also likely due to lack of
budgetary allocations, aside from other reasons. The budgetary allocation under the budget head of
‘pre-school education’ for ICDS was zero between 2010-2012, and INR 1000 between 2012-2014
(Budget Information Series, OBAC, 2013). This has been revised in the 12th Plan, and an amount of INR
3000 per AWC and INR 1500 per mini-AWC has been allocated on PSE kits.
The revised budget for PSE is perhaps reflected in the findings of a more recent evaluation of 605 ICDS
centres13 by NIPCCD in 2016. The study showed that that 73.9 percent of AWCs reported adequate PSE
material and 69.4 percent possessed PSE kits, a marginal improvement from the earlier evaluation
(NIPCCD, 2016). Further, 30.7 percent of all AWW were found to be preparing low cost teaching-learning
material (NIPCCD, 2016).
Another area which suffers in the pre-school programme is outdoor activities. These are conducted by
lesser number of anganwadis as there is a lack of availability of space, especially in urban areas (NIPCCD,
2006). Further, the workload of the AWW has been another challenge affecting the PSE component of
the ICDS. The CBPS-UNICEF (2017) study showed that only 15 out of 100 AWWs surveyed reported
conducting PSE for at least 3.5 hours. According to the study, the average time spent on PSE was one
hour and 40 minutes. Discussions with workers shows that tasks such as record-keeping and
13
In 19 States and Union Territories, based on data received by Central Monitoring Units (CMUs)
37 | P a g e
introduction of additional schemes such as the Arogya Lakshmi in Telangana and the MathruPoorna and
Bhagyalakshmischemes in Karnataka take away critical time from the PSE programme.
In addition to these internal challenges for the programme, another significant issue that has been
growing in the recent years is parental aspirations and expectations from the PSE programme. Though
the ICDS PSE programme adopts activities that are developmentally appropriate for children between
three to six years, parents insist on formal education, because of which certain components of formal
schooling have also been introduced in PSE. These observations were repeatedly made during
interactions with parents on the field (in Orissa, Delhi and Telangana).14 AWWs also reported that
parents who sent their children up to the age of four to the anganwadi (for nutrition) would pull their
children out and enrol them in private preschools by the age of five if they could afford it, as this would
ensure the child's continuation in a private, English medium school in the later years and avoid other
problems such as the need to pay donations to enrol the child in Class I.15
A study conducted by FSG similarly showed thatparents' perceptions of a ‘good’ ECE programme
comprised of academic concerns such as learning the alphabet and numbers, getting into the habit of
doing homework and performing well at exams. English language skills were also considered another
marker of progress by most parents (FSG, 2015). The study sampled middle and low income families
(with over 70% with a household income <15,000pm) in cities in India, with at least one child in the ECE
(0-6) agegroup and spending between INR 300-1200 per month as fees. It found that of the 79% of
children attending pre-school, 87% of this group was availing private sector services while only 13%
were accessing government programmes.
Though the ICDS falls under the MWCD, there has been a push to include under-six year-olds within the
the ambit of the RTE, in which case shifting the PSE component under the Education Ministry can be
considered (CBPS-UNICEF, 2017). However, since there is uncertainty around this inclusion, the ICDS has
been preserved the way it is, so as to continue to provide for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Alternatively, since health and nutrition requirements are also to be made available through PHCs via
ANMs and ASHA workers, this component of ICDS creates an overlap of services, wastage of resources
14
Refer to Table 2 for details on stakeholders interviewed 15
As reported during an FGD with AWWs in Ibrahimpet block, Ranga Reddy District, Telangana on 11th
August,
2017 and during personal interviews with parents of children enrolled in anganwadi no. 115 in Tekhandvillage, Delhi on 9
th August, 2017.
38 | P a g e
and challenges in monitoring. Delinking nutrition/health and PSE services may also provide the AWWs
with adequate time to focus on activities related to child development (CBPS-UNICEF, 2017).
Restructured ICDS
To address the programmatic, management and institutional gaps in ICDS, the restructured and
strengthened ICDS was approved in the 12th Five Year Plan (MWCD, 2012). While the programme
budget allocation was INR 444 billion in the 11th Plan period, it was increased to INR 1,235.8 billion the
12th Plan period.16 As per the revised cost norms, the centre-state sharing ratio, which was earlier
90:10, is now 60:40 for all budget heads except for the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP), for
which it continues to be 50:50.
The programme was to be rolled out in three phases - in 200 high burden districts in the first year (2012-
13), in another 200 districts in the second year (2013-14), and the remaining districts from 2014-15
onwards.
The gaps and challenges identified and to be addressed under this scheme are as follows:
● special focus on children under three years and pregnant and lactating mothers
● strengthening and repackaging of services, including care and nutrition counselling services and
care of severely underweight children
● a provision for an additional anganwadi worker cum nutrition counsellor for focus on children
under three years of age and to improve the family contact, care and nutrition counselling for
pregnant and lactating mothers in the selected 200 high burden districts across the country,
besides having pilots on link workers, crèche cum AWC
● focus on ECCE
● forging strong institutional and programmatic convergence particularly at the district, block and
village levels
● models providing flexibility at local levels for community participation
● improving the SNP, including cost indexation
● provision for the construction and improvement of AWC
16
Further details regarding the revised budget is given in Annexure 3.
39 | P a g e
● allocating adequate financial resources for other components including monitoring and
Management and Information System (MIS), training and use of Information and
Communication technology (ICT)
● to put ICDS in a mission mode
● Revise financial norms ( MWCD, Press Information Bureau, 2012)
As evident from the points listed above, the focus of the restructured ICDS still continues to remain
nutrition and health, as seen from the many action points related to nutrition mentioned above.
However, efforts have also been made to strengthen the PSE component by the MWCD (with support
from NIPCCD) by identifying the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Research (CECDR), Jamia
Millia University as one of the technical resource centres for piloting the restructured ICDS curriculum in
two projects each in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan (CECDR, 2013). The six month-long pilot study
comprised of developing the curriculum through a core committee with ECCE experts and ICDS
functionaries, implementing it, and monitoring and evaluating the implemented curriculum. The revised
curriculum, including a detailed daily timetable with activities targeting each development domain using
appropriate teaching-learning material, was operationalized through training of anganwadi workers,
organization of parent and community meetings prior to the implementation, provisioning support of
supervisors and Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) to anganwadi workers (AWWs), and release
of the sanctioned funds of INR 3000 per AWC by MWCD for PSE services. The monitoring and evaluation,
though conducted in a short time span, was adjudged to have showed positive results in children’s
development in the form of improved language skills, cognitive concepts such as colours, shapes, sizes,
emergent literacy skills through worksheets, inculcated personal hygiene practices, increased
attendance and generated an overall active interest in the new opportunities being provided as part of
PSE. Other gains were in the form of parental satisfaction along with increased interest, commitment
and positive attitude towards PSE by the ICDS staff.
II. Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme for Children of Working Mothers (RGNCS)
The RGNCS was introduced by the central government to provide day care facilities to the children in the
age group of 0-6 years from families with monthly income of less than Rs.12,000/-. Under the revised
scheme of 2016, day care facilities, holistic health care and education are to be provided to children
between six months and six years of age of working mothers. The specific services under the scheme are
as follows: day care facilities, including sleeping facilities; early stimulation (0-3 years) and pre-school
education (3-6 years); locally sourced supplementary stimulation; growth monitoring; health check-ups;
40 | P a g e
and immunisation. The scheme was revised in order to cater to this demographic dividend in the context
of growing needs of younger women, changing family structures, urbanisation and migration, after a
recommendation by the Steering Committee on Women’s Agency and Child Rights, under the aegis of
the Planning Commission, to re-design and re-look at the scheme which had failed in providing quality
day-care services to the target population previously (Revised RGNCS, 2016). Considering ICDS targets a
similar population, provides a larger range of services, and has been universalised, it was also
recommended that flexible models, anganwadi cum creche centres, revision of norms, and other such
options be explored in the next (13th) Five Year Plan period for the implementation of the RGNCS.
The scheme falls under the central government, under the MWCD, and the implementation was carried
out by three main agencies - the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB), Indian Council for Child Welfare
(ICCW) and Bharatiya Adim Jati Sevak Sangh (BAJSS), in partnership with other civil society organizations
as well as private agencies. As of 2008 however, all crèches under BAJSS were transferred to CSWB due
to complaints of irregularities in the management, several of which were unable to become functional.
Many crèches were also shut down by the implementing agencies due to non-performance (MWCD,
Press Information Bureau, 2013). Moreover, no new crèches were sanctioned in the period between
2010 and 2013 (MWCD, 2013). These have resulted in a decrease in the total number of crèches, as can
be seen from Table 9.
Table 9: Total number of crèches under the RGNCS
Year 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2014- 2015 2015-2016
Total number
of functional
crèches
26785 22599 23785 23785 23293* 21363*
Source: MWCD, Press Information Bureau, 2013
The first year of the implementation of the revised scheme is directed towards undertaking intensive
inspections of existing crèches to weed out non-performing centres, and also to upgrade the
infrastructural facilities of other crèches so as to meet the requirements of the scheme (Revised RGNCS,
2016). The implementing agencies will continue to be CSWB and ICCW, through NGOs, with a cost-
41 | P a g e
sharing pattern of 90: 10 between the central government and the implementing NGO. The funds are
released directly from the GoI to the implementing agency, instead of via the state government.
The targeted number of beneficiaries for this scheme has been 643 thousand since 2014, but a
population of approximately 582 thousand benefitted in 2014-15, further reducing to 534 thousand in
2015-16 (Parliament of India, 2016).
III. Pre-primary schools attached to schools
In addition to providing PSE through anganwadis, the government also provides it through a limited
number of pre-primary sections attached to government primary schools. According to DISE 2013-14
data, around 15.5 percent of government schools in India have an attached pre-primary section,
catering to 3.02 million students (CSF, 2016). Sixty five percent of these schools do not have a teacher
for the pre-primary section and the primary school teachers are probably responsible for these children
as well (CSF, 2016). An analysis by CSF (2016) shows that in 12 states, over 50 percent of government
schools have an attached pre-primary section, while in 18 states, less than five percent do. Two states,
West Bengal and Assam, in particular have a disproportionately higher number of primary schools with
pre-schools attached and contribute to 66.6% of all pre-primary sections in primary schools in the
country.
Nationally, the enrolment in government pre-primary sections is just over 30 lakhs, while it is 85 lakhs in
private pre-primary sections.
Figure 7: State-wise distribution of government and private schools with pre-primary sections
42 | P a g e
88.45
1.25
4.89
0.92
0.18
2.08
67.57
0.61
0.3
89.29
3.15
92.81
24.96
75.59
10.87
3.08
1.07
5.88
60.19
3.59
1.17
54.78
1.75
56.38
2.25
8.47
59.28
18.52
1.1
1.13
90.09
1.16
71.6
20.77
0.07
90.31
15.51
59.96
50.14
5.02
78.88
15.97
93.18
83.37
47.73
78.74
96.93
67.6
96.43
77.28
76.65
65.78
59.52
43.93
0
78.77
64.9
55.46
87.66
67.67
51.14
33.77
86.03
41.77
90.91
90.63
67.21
94.37
54.81
73.82
82.43
10.65
94.12 43.26
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
West Bengal
Uttarakhand
Uttar Pradesh
Tripura
Telangana
Tamil Nadu
Sikkim
Rajasthan
Punjab
Pudducherry
Odisha
Nagaland
Mizoram
Meghalaya
Manipur
Maharashtra
Madhya Pradesh
Lakshwadeep
Kerala
Karnataka
Jharkhand
Jammu and Kashmir
Himachal Pradesh
Haryana
Gujarat
Goa
Delhi
Daman and Diu
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Chattisgarh
Chandigarh
Bihar
Assam
Arunachal Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
INDIA
Percent
Stat
e-W
ise
dis
trib
uti
on
of
Go
vern
men
t &
Pri
vate
Sch
oo
ls
Private %
Government %
43 | P a g e
Source: Central Square Foundation, 2016
B. Private Sector Services
After the ICDS, the private sector is the second largest provider of ECCE services. Aside from high end
private pre-schools, playschools, nurseries, preparatory schools and kindergartens that mostly cater to
children from well-off families, there has also been a rapid expansion of low-budget, private pre-schools,
in not only urban but even rural and tribal areas. Often such institutions are also attached to elementary
schools and, as Kapoor (2006) notes, can also be exploitative, due to heavy loads placed on children, as a
result of a downward extension of the primary curriculum and pressure exerted to compete and
perform from an early age.
While some of these are registered with state-level educational authorities, many remain unrecognised,
vary in quality and it is difficult to estimate the number of such schools (CECED, n.d.). A government
estimate places the number of children enrolled in private ECCE centres at around 10 million, though
the actual figure may vary due to their unregulated nature (Kaul and Sankar, 2009). With a lack of
guidelines in their functioning, these schools are marked by inequitable access, uneven quality and
growing commercialisation (NECCEP, 2013).
Some of the major private players are running pre-schools through franchise models such as Eurokids
(780 branches), Kidzee (550 branches) and Treehouse, which also offer services outside of India (Ohara,
2013). It is further noted however that in 2015, 67% of the childcare industry was dominated by the
unorganised sector, with no government supervision. The lack of regulatory frameworks, mechanisms
and the growing commercialisation of education pose serious threats to quality, curriculum,
infrastructure, teacher qualifications and access. Often, the quality of education provided at such
centres may be counter-productive to a child’s development, resulting in ‘mis-education’ (Kaul and
Sankar, 2009).
C. NGO Services
In addition to public and private programme, NGOs provide ECCE services either by running their own
models or assisting government programmes. These services usually target children from socially and
economically disadvantaged settings, such as those in tribal areas, migrant workers or rural children in
certain contexts (Kaul and Sankar, 2009). According to government estimates, three to 20 million
children participate in such programmes (Kaul and Sankar, 2009). While these services have not been
evaluated systematically, those attending these programmes report positive outcomes from parents,
and are also more likely to go on to study in a primary school (Swaminathan 1998; as cited in Kaul and
44 | P a g e
Sankar, 2009). Several of these NGO models also cater to the diverse needs of communities and tend to
demonstrate more innovative and developmentally appropriate teaching-learning practices (Kaul and
Sankar, 2009).
The restructured ICDS is an example of collaboration between the NGO sector and the government,
wherein NGOs and voluntary groups are recognised as technical support groups for training and
capacity- building of communities and ICDS staff.17 Under the restructured scheme, the government has
also proposed to partner with civil society organizations for operating up to 10% of all ICDS projects. The
vision is that these models could contribute "to innovation, component enrichment, quality
improvement, extending reach to unreached areas and better responsiveness to local contexts”
(Planning Commission, 2011, p.8).
Public-civil society partnerships have also been extended in providing crèche services - by converting
five percent of all AWCs into AWC cum crèche centres under the restructured ICDS scheme; as well as
part of the RGNCS. An example of this is between MWCD and a Delhi-based NGO, Mobile Crèches, which
has been providing ECCE services to children of migrant workers at construction sites and urban slums
for nearly 50 years and now acts as a technical resource for the state. Under the RGNCS, NGOs are also
invited to set up and manage crèches, and 90% of the expenditure is borne by the central government in
the form of grant-in-aid to the NGO.
Overall, considering the high rates of availability and participation in pre-school education, the CECED
report suggests that India is well positioned to work towards developing and implementing quality
standards in existing schools (CECED, n.d.). However, the lack of a regulatory mechanism is a critical
concern. Market research on pre-school education in India cites precisely this lack of a regulatory
framework as the primary reason for the emergence of a lucrative pre-school market in India, with the
industry predicted to attract further investment and expand rapidly in the next few years (Technavio,
2016).
Additionally, parental perceptions regarding what comprises good pre-school education has also
become a factor contributing to the growing involvement of private sector business models in the
domain of ECCE. However, as Nambissan (2012) notes, such models hold implications for quality and
access and affect equity at the ECCE level. This also suggests the need for engaging parents to increase
17
45 | P a g e
their awareness on the components of an appropriate ECE programme and the indicators of learning
that they should look out for (FSG, 2015).
46 | P a g e
3. Comparison of the status of children across three states
3.1 Introduction This chapter presents a comparison of the status of children across three states: Telangana, Odisha and
Delhi. Telangana is a newly formed state (in 2014), which was formerly part of Andhra Pradesh. The new
state comprises smaller districts, which have increased in number from 10 to 31 (Government of
Telangana, 2015). Odisha (formerly Orissa) is a state in eastern India with 30 districts. It ranks third in
the country in terms of Scheduled Tribe (ST) population, and 40% of Odisha’s total population comprises
of SCs and STs (Government of Odisha website). The state is also rich in mineral resources such as iron
ore, coal and bauxite, making it one of the most popular states for investment in industrial projects,
especially in steel and power (Government of Odisha website). The national capital territory of Delhi,
with 11 districts, is a union territory of India. However, it functions more like a state, with its own state
government. The largely metropolitan area - it the capital of the country - is also among the largest
urban cities in the world, and among the most productive in India in terms of per capita GDP18.
Table 10: Population of 0-6 year olds across the three states
State 0-6
population
0-6
population
as
percentage
of total
state
population
Rural
population
(0-6)
Urban
population
(0-6)
Child
sex
ratio (0-
6)
Rural sex
ratio (0-6)
Urban sex
ratio (0-6)
Telangana* 39,20,418 11.14% 23,90,626
15,29,792
933 934 930
Odisha** 52,73,194 12.56% 45,25,870
7,47,324
941 946 913
Delhi** 20,12,454 11.99% 56,716
19,55,738
871 814 873
18
https://www.brookings.edu/research/global-metro-monitor/
47 | P a g e
INDIA 16,45,15,253 13.59% 12,13,22,86
5
4,31,92,388
918 905 923
*Source: Statistical Year Book 2013, Primary Census Abstract, Census 2011, Directorate of Census Operations, Hyderabad.
**Source: Census of India 2011, Population Enumeration Data (Final Population) age data
A comparison of the three states shows that the child population between 0-6 years is lower in
all three than the average child population between 0-6 years for India. However, among the
states, Odisha has the highest proportion of children between 0-6 years. Odisha also has the
highest proportion of children between 0-6 years living in the rural areas (85.82 percent), which
is higher than the national average as well (73.7 percent children between 0-6 years in India live
in rural areas, and 26.3 percent live in urban areas).
With respect to child sex ratio, it appears that the sex ratio for Telangana and Odisha for 0-6 year
olds is 933 and 941 respectively, higher than the national average of 918, but is lower for Delhi which is
abysmally low at 814 (Census of India, 2011 from NIPCCD, 2014).
Delhi, largely an urban state, also has a majority of the population between 0-6 years living in
urban areas and has the lowest proportion of children (2.81 percent) living in rural areas,
among the three states. Odisha has a mostly rural population and Telangana has a slightly
higher rural population.
48 | P a g e
Figure 8:Comparison of urban-rural populations (in percentages) across the three states
Source: Statistical Year Book 2013, Primary Census Abstract, Census 2011, Directorate of Census Operations, Hyderabad;
Census of India 2011, Population Enumeration Data (Final Population) age data
3.2. Health and Nutrition
Table 11: Health and nutrition-related indicators for children in Telangana, Odisha and Delhi
Indicator Telangana Odisha Delhi INDIA
NFHS 3
(2005-
06)*
NFHS 4
(2015-
16)
NFHS 3
(2005-
05)
NFHS 4
(2015-
16)
NFHS 3
(2005-
06)
NFHS 4
(2015-
16)
NFHS 3
(2005-
06)
NFHS 4
(2015-
16)
Infant Mortality
Rate (IMR)
28 65 40 40 35 57 41
Under 5
Mortality Rate
(U5MR)
32 91 49 47 47 74 50
Children aged
12-23 months
fully immunised
68.1% 51.8% 78.6% 63.2% 66.4% 43.5% 62%
Children under
5 who Are
28.1% 45% 34.1% 42.2% 32.3% 48% 38.4%
39 61
Telangana
Urban
Rural
14.2
85.8
Odisha
Urban
Rural 97.2
2.8
Delhi
Urban
Rural
49 | P a g e
stunted (height
for age)
Children under
5 who are
wasted (weight
for height)
18% 19.6% 20.4% 17.1% 15.4% 19.8% 21%
Children under
5 who are
underweight
28.5% 40.7% 34.4% 27% 26.1% 42.5% 35.7%
Children aged
6-59 months
who are
anaemic
60.7% 65% 44.6% 57% 62.6% 69.4% 58.4%
*NFHS 3 data unavailable for Telangana
Source: National Family Health Survey 4: State Fact Sheet for Telangana, Odisha and Delhi
Looking at health and nutrition indicators, all three states appear to display better indicators than the
national average for IMR, U5MR, full immunisation, stunting, wasting and underweight children,
according to NFHS 4. Comparing the three states, Odisha still continues to have the highest IMR, U5MR,
stunting, wasting and underweight indicators. The only exception is with respect to children between
six-59 months who are anaemic, which is highest in Delhi, followed by Telangana. Both Telangana and
Delhi also have a higher percentage of anaemic children compared to the national average, while Odisha
has made an improvement in this aspect, bringing down the rate by 20 percent to 44 percent.
There is variation among states in terms of indicators on which they fare better. Telangana has an IMR
and U5MR far lower than that of Delhi and Odisha, while Odisha has the highest percentage of fully
immunised children, close to 80 percent, along with a significant improvement in the past decade in IMR
and U5MR.
50 | P a g e
3.3. Pre-school Education
Table 12: Proportion of children between 0-6 years attending PSE
State Urban Rural Total
Attending
ICDS
Attending
any PSE
Attending
ICDS
Attending
PSE
Attending
ICDS
Attending
any PSE
Telangana Data not available
Delhi 9.1% 64.7% 10.7% 63.9% 9.1% 64.7%
Odisha 36.7% 75.4% 68.5% 79.2% 63.3% 78.6%
AP 27.8 71.8 55.4 91.0 46.0 84.4
INDIA 22.2% 72.6% 46.0% 68% 38.7% 69.4%
Source: Rapid Survey on children, 2013-14 MWCD
As in the case of all-India reports, data for state-wise enrolment/attendance in pre-school education
show variation. According to the RSOC (2013-14), a higher proportion of pre-school age children in
Odisha appear to be attending pre-school programmes, compared to Delhi and even all-India figures.
Data for Telangana is not available (as the state came into being in 2014), but the figures for Andhra
Pradesh shows that 84.4 percent children were attending some or the other form of PSE in 2013-14.
Interestingly, the RSOC also shows that in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh a higher proportion of rural
children are attending some form of PSE. This may perhaps be as a result of a large number of non-
governmental organisations working on education, in these states. A higher proportion of children also
appear to be attending ICDS centres in these two states, which is also perhaps a result of more NGO-
state collaborations here. The history of NGO-state collaborations and support lent to ICDS by NGOs also
came out during our field visits and discussions.
Data for further analysis by caste, religion, income, gender, etc has been limited or absent, and hence
could not be undertaken.
51 | P a g e
3.3.1 Provisions for ECCE across the three states
A. ICDS
An examination of the working of ICDS across the three states in terms of the number of AWCs
sanctioned and operational also shows that Telangana has the smallest deficit in terms of numbers
sanctioned, operational and providing preschool education. Odisha, on the other hand, has the highest
deficit in terms of the number of AWCs operational and providing PSE.
Table 13: State-wise distribution of anganwadis and enrolment as of March 2015
States Number of anganwadis Enrolment
Sanctioned Operational Providing
PSE
Boys Girls Total
Telangana 35700 35353 33955 318419 320719 639138
Odisha 74154 71204 70314 772710 763028 1535738
Delhi 11150 10897 10897 180294 170883 351177
India 1400000 1346186 1253248 18545840 17998156 36543996
Source: NIPCCD Handbook on Children's Statistics 2014
B. Pre-primary sections attached to primary schools
A look at Figure 9 below shows that there are more private schools with an attached pre-primary section
than government schools, except in Delhi. These figures, however, do not include the schools run by the
local municipal bodies in different cities within these states. Government pre-primary provisioning is
extremely low in Telangana and Odisha, though as we know from above, a large portion of the children
attend anganwadis in rural Odisha, and a combination of anganwadis and LKG/UKGs in rural Telangana.
However, as CSF (2016) suggests, investing further in pre-primary sections in government schools could
offer an opportunity to provide age-appropriate curricula to three to six year-old children across the
country and also contribute to ensuring continuity during the transition to primary schooling. A pre-
school teacher would be better qualified than an anganwadi worker to impart this curriculum and focus
on the educational component of ECCE. A potential strategy to do this would be to extend the RTE to
children under six.
52 | P a g e
Figure 9: Pre-primary sections attached to government and private schools across the three states
Source: CSF 2016
Figure 9 shows that a high number of government run pre-schools in Delhi have a pre-primary section,
while this is almost absent in Telangana and comparatively on a much smaller scale in Odisha. Odisha
has a high number of private schools with pre-primary sections, which is also seen for the all-India level.
Perhaps this affects enrolment in anganwadis. However, the proportion of children enrolled in
anganwadis in Orissa is also much higher compared to the other two states (discussed further below),
which suggests that there is perhaps a higher load and requirement for ECCE provisions in Odisha, which
also has a higher child population between 0-6 years compared to the other two states.
C. Comparison of participation in different ECCE programmes across the three states
A comparison across the states in terms of proportion of children attending ICDS centres show that
highest number of boys and girls in Odisha are enrolled in anganwadis (14.6 percent and 14.4 percent
respectively), followed by Delhi (8.9 percent boys and 8.4 percent girls), and finally Telangana (8.1
0.18 3.15
59.28
15.51 15.97
67.6
41.77 43.26
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Telangana Odisha Delhi INDIA
Pe
rce
nt
States
Government School with Pre-Primary Section %
Private Schools with Pre-Primary Section %
53 | P a g e
percent of boys and girls). The differences between boys and girls in terms of enrolment in AWCs thus
does not seem to be high.19
Table 14: Age-wise participation of children in pre-primary and primary education in rural Odisha and Telangana
All-India Enrolled in
balwadi/anganwadi
Enrolled
in
LKG/UKG
In school Out of
Pre-
school
or
school
Total
Government Private Other
Age 3 53.6% 8.2% 38.3% 100%
Age 4 52.3% 22.5% 25.3% 100%
Age 5 22.5% 17.7% 30.7% 17.5% 0.9% 10.6% 100%
Age 6 5.6% 10.3% 53.3% 25.1% 1.0% 4.9% 100%
Odisha
Age 3 81.8% 3.1% 15.1% 100%
Age 4 83.9% 10.8% 5.2% 100%
Age 5 41.0% 8.4% 36.0% 11.2% 0.0 3.4% 100%
Age 6 8.8% 5.4% 69.5% 14.5% 0.2% 1.7% 100%
Telangana
Age 3 57.4% 10.1% 32.5% 100%
Age 4 42.7% 42.5% 14.8% 100%
Age 5 11.1% 37.3% 29.3% 19.2% 0.1% 3.0% 100%
19
Inferences interpolated from tables 10 and 14
54 | P a g e
Age 6 1.4% 19.7% 42.5% 34.0% 0.0 2.4% 100%
Source: ASER (Rural), 2017. Note: For 3 and 4 years, only pre-school data is recorded. Data for Delhi was not available
In rural Odisha, a fairly high number of children aged 3 and 4, over 80%, are attending Anganwadis or
Balwadis, and a few are enrolled in LKG or UKG. At 5 years of age though, close to half the children are
attending primary schools, despite the official age of entry to primary school under the RTE being
mentioned as 6. Even at age 6, by when the child should have begun primary schooling, around 15%
children continue to attend pre-school education.
Figure 10: Age-wise attendance by ECCE provision type for rural Odisha
Source: ASER 2017
Figure 11: Age-wise attendance by ECCE provision type for rural Telangana
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Age 3
Age 4
Age 5
Age 6
Percent
Age
of
Ch
ild Enrolled in Anganwadi/Balwadi
Enrolled in LKG/UKG
Not Attending PSE/School
Government School
Private School
Other Schools
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Age 3
Age 4
Age 5
Age 6
Percent
Age
of
Ch
ild
Enrolled in Anganwadi/Balwadi
Enrolled in LKG/UKG
Not Attending PSE/Primary School
Government School
Private School
55 | P a g e
Source: ASER 2017
In rural Telangana, there is a significantly high proportion of three year-olds (around 30 percent), not
enrolled in any PSE centre. However, by the age of four, over 80 percent are enrolled in either
angawandis/balwadis or LKG/UKG in equal proportions. As in the case of Odisha, by the age of five many
children begin attending either government-run or private primary schools, while even at age six,
around 20% continue with pre-primary education. This trend may arise from differences in the age of
entry into primary school among different schools and states. The entry into pre-school in both states
also increases from age three to four, perhaps since pre-primary education is not considered an
essential requirement for younger children.
Notably, both rural Odisha and Telangana fare better on enrolment indicators for children from three to
sixyears of age when compared to the average statistics for rural India, according to which 38.3% of
three year-olds, 25.3% of four years-olds and 10.6% of five year-olds are not attending any pre-primary
or primary education.
4. Conclusion Overall, the status report establishes the importance of providing for developmentally appropriate
ECCE, particularly for a country such as India which still lags behind significantly in terms of nutrition,
health and pre-school education indicators compared to its neighbours. Against this context it also
highlights the lack of adequate budgets for implementing the restructured ICDS, which was to bring
about improvements in quality and efficiency of services. Particularly the status report also presents a
dismal scenario with regards to preschool education, with lack of provisions and budgets within ICDS to
undertake this successfully on the one hand; and the mushrooming of and demand for developmentally
inappropriate interventions focused on reading and writing within private schools. The report stands as
a caution against the unregulated growth of ECCE provisions of varied quality and orientation that can
further deepen existing inequalities in access and outcomes based on social positions and status.
56 | P a g e
Annexure 1
Inclusive and developmentally appropriate practices from the National ECCE Curriculum Framework
The National ECCE Curriculum Framework notes that a common curriculum cannot cater to the
individualised and contextual needs of children but the lack of a framework is currently leading to all
kinds of practices which are not developmentally appropriate for children. ECCE programmes are either
minimalist in their approach, with little or no focus on the educational component, or they follow a
downward extension of the primary school curriculum, stressing on advanced learning outcomes and
adversely impacting the child’s learning potential. This presents certain appropriate norms and practices
as part of the framework, specifically in the education component. The curriculum and pedagogy are
motivated by the need to address synergistically linked domains of learning processes (memory
attention, observation), cognitive skills (reasoning, comparing, contrasting, etc), specific information,
language (literacy, reading, writing, oral skills), emotional well-being, psychosocial stimulation and
physical well- being (motor skills, movement, coordination). It is interesting to note that despite the
ECCE policy advocating for the inclusion of indigenous and culturally relevant practices, the suggestions
for parent and community involvement are restricted to spreading awareness, sensitising them and
mobilising their support only for certain kinds of practices.
Curriculum and
pedagogy
Curricular material Parent involvement Community involvement
57 | P a g e
Language should be
home language or
mother tongue and
expression of all
languages should be
encouraged, followed by
phasing in the formal
school language (regional
or English)
Training of caregivers to
handle multiple
languages
Adaptability and
flexibility of curriculum to
children with different
impairments and special
education needs
Multi-age groupings (also
pragmatic in rural areas,
low funding for ECCE)
Promote equal
opportunities for boys
and girls through
expectations, treatment,
interactions
Use teaching material
free of gender bias such
as stories, songs, games,
role play, activities which
Different types of
books: large board
books, picture books,
local folk tales, simple
story books, comics,
children’s magazines
Drama equipment:
dolls, doll sized
furniture, play
utensils, food, dress
up clothes, mirrors,
comb
Blocks in different
shapes,, colours, sizes
Puzzles
Matching cards
Strings, beads
Games
Small toys like
vehicles, animals,
human figures etc
Paper, crayons,
pencils, slates, chalks,
paint, brushes, pieces
of fabric, tape
Clay or play dough
Parental education on
importance of home
language and mother
tongue
Sensitisation,
orientation and
training on SEN
Strengthening families
by building on positive
family attributes
Gender sensitisation
Involvement of
parents at home
through reading
books, playing games,
narrating stories and
conversing with
children
Parental commitment
to timely enrolment
Involvement for the
creation of play
materials
Taking part in the
assessment process
through attention to
the child’s
Community awareness
through information on
importance of mother
tongue and
multilingualism
Gender sensitisation
Taking the help of local
craftspersons, artisans
for creating play material
for children, using
indigenous material and
locally available
resources
Selection of
caregiver/teacher from
within the community
(as in the case of
anganwadi workers)
Self-help services
through mobilization of
the community and their
resources, voluntary
efforts
Voluntary collectivisation
of women and mothers
58 | P a g e
depict all genders in
similar roles and
positions
Build positive disposition
to learning processes by
avoiding formal curricular
practices, repeated
criticism
Appropriate teacher-child
ratio
Personal care and
hygiene
Daily, weekly and yearly
planning for activities,
themes, goals
Continuous observation,
documentation and
interpretation of each
child’s development, to
be shared with parents at
least twice a year, along
with appropriate
intervention based on
this
Portfolio of each child
with sample work,
developmental progress
checklist, medical health
Spare newspaper
Notebooks, pencils
and other stationary
Material for science,
locally available or
naturally occurring
material
Music CDs or tapes,
local instruments if
possible
Display few materials
at a time, and change
them regularly to
sustain interest
Accessible shelves
with labelling and
drawings for storage
Display walls
Child-sized colourful
furniture or coloured
mats
Material for sports
and outdoor play:
bicycles, jumping
ropes, tyres, sand
box, swings, slides etc
development process
Nutrition and health
education for
pregnant and lactating
women
59 | P a g e
form, progress reports
Annexure 2
Services provided under the ICDS and the number of beneficiaries
i) Supplementary nutrition: Under the SNP, children between three and six years of age are
provided with hot cooked meals at aAWCs. Pregnant women, lactating mothers, adolescent
girls and children under the age of three are given rations. The food items included are
fortified foods, rice, wheat, green grams and milk powder, provided based on the target
group. The objective of the SNP is to bridge the gap between the Recommended Dietary
Allowance (RDA) and the Average Daily Intake (ADI).
The nutritional standards as per the revised norms are as follows:
Category Calories (K Cal) Protein (g) Per beneficiary cost
60 | P a g e
Children (6-72 months) 500 12-15 Rs. 6
Severely underweight
children (6-72 months)
800 20-25 Rs. 9
Pregnant women and
Nursing mothers
600 18-20 Rs. 7
ii) Immunisation: Children between the ages of 12-23 months are immunised against
preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis etc. Pregnant women also
receive immunisation against tetanus. Immunisation camps are held regularly at the AWCs.
iii) Health check-ups and referral services: Antenatal care, post-natal care and regular health
check-ups for children under six are provided under this component. As part of the health
check-up, weight and height of children and pregnant women are regularly recorded;
growth monitoring is undertaken; abdominal girth, BP and haemoglobin levels of pregnant
women are checked; malnourished children are identified and monitored, and other simple
illnesses, such as diarrhoea and de-worming are managed through simple medication
available at the AWC, by the AWW and the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM). In case of severe
illnesses, children are identified and referred to primary or tertiary hospitals for further
treatment. Both immunisation and health services are carried out in convergence with the
Ministry/Departments of Health and Family Welfare, via the National Rural Health Mission
(NRHM).
iv) Nutrition and health education: Anganwadi workers organise monthly meetings and home
visits with pregnant and lactating women enrolled at the AWC with purpose of
disseminating information on health, nutrition, infant and young child feeding practices and
child care. Additionally, a monthly Village Health and Nutrition Day (VHND) is organized as a
health and nutrition camp for the entire village.
v) Preschool education: Pre-school education is to be provided to children between three to
six years of age by the AWW at the AWC. Under the restructured ICDS, the AWC has been
repositioned as a vibrant ECD centre which is to provide a stimulating environment for
children through developmentally appropriate activities and the play-way method, with the
61 | P a g e
goal of holistic development in the cognitive, physical, socio-emotional and psychological
domains.
Number of beneficiaries covered under the ICDS
Year Sanctio
ned
No. of
operation
al projects
Sanction
ed
No. of
operation
al AWCs
No. of supplementary
nutrition
beneficiaries
[Children (6 months
to 6 years) &
Pregnant and
Lactating Mothers]
No. of pre-school
education
beneficiaries
[Children (3-6 years)]
Achievement
during X Plan
2002 – 2007
1221 2.99029
million
33.033 million
(88.06%)
13.425 million
(80.60%)
2008-09 6120 1.044269
million
87.343 million 34.06 million
2009-10 6500 6509 1.15
million
1.142029
million
88.434 million 35.493 million
2010-11 7000 6722 1.28
million
1.262267
million
95.947 million 36.623 million
2011-12 6900 6908 1.31
million
1.304611
million
97.249 million 35.822 million
Achievement
during XI Plan
2007 - 2012
1079 4.59868
million
26.706 million
(37.85%)
5.741 million
(19.08%)
62 | P a g e
2012-13 7018 7025 1.34449
8 million
1.338732
million
95.612 million 35.329 million
2013-14 7045 7067 1.35207
8 million
1.342146
million
104.509 million 37.071 million
2014-15 7075 7072 13000
new
1.346186
million
102.233 million 36.544 million
2015-16 7075 NA 1.4
million
NA NA NA
Source: MWCD website
Annexure 3
AVERAGE ANNUAL BUDGET REQUIREMENT FOR ICDS IN MISSION MODE
S.No. Major Heads GoI liability
(crores)
State liability
(crores)
Total (crores)
1. Recurring 30,776 12,641 43,417
2. Non Recurring 3,641 1,227 4,868
3. Total 34,417 13,868 48,285
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S.No. Recurring budget heads Annual
GoIliability
Annual state
liability
% of Total
recurrent budget
1. Honorarium 9,411 1,046 30.58
2. SNP 10,151 10,151 32.98
3. Salary 5,997 666 19.49
4. ECCE 926 103 3.01
5. Others (Insurance, TA,
Grading and Accreditation,
Other social securities,
Administrative expenses and
contingencies)
508 75 1.65
6. Rent 818 91 2.66
7. PSE and medicine kits 745 83 2.42
8. Flexi fund + uniforms 301 33 0.98
9. Untied Fund including
crèches
755 265 2.45
10. Monitoring 326 36 1.06
64 | P a g e
11. Training 325 36 1.06
12. Purchase, Hiring, POL and
Maintenance
200 22 0.65
13 IEC and advocacy 219 24 0.71
14. SnehaShivirs 94 10 0.31
Total 30,776 12,641 100
Source: Report of the Inter-Ministerial Group on ICDS Restructuring, September 2011